Vox pop

“The facts speak for themselves – it’s difficult to argue that cuts aren’t undermining diversity and social inclusion work in many museums. This is depressing, disappointing and frustrating.

Museums belong to us all and therefore have a responsibility to engage with us all. Don’t give me the hackneyed argument that museums shouldn’t try and be social services – of course they shouldn’t. But museums should be about making a difference to people’s lives.

Such cuts may seem like an easy option but in the long run they will be detrimental.

Museums that buck the trend and keep these services will be the survivors – embedded in their communities they will be more resourceful and adept at getting through these challenging times that we all face.”


“There seems to be a terrible paradox in the language being used by the cultural industries.

On the one hand we have a messages that “Art (Is) for Everyone” and on the other hand we have a disinvestment in diversity and social inclusion.

I suspect that in future people will look at this period as being culturally regressive. Why is it so difficult for our cultural institutions to respond to the massive benefits of working in a more diverse and socially inclusive manner?

It’s the top tier of museum and gallery leadership that needs to change not those who work on the frontline.

Cultural arrogance is still unfortunately rife in most of museums and galleries. That’s why leadership cut jobs first that are seen as adjunct to core business, but everyone should have right to culture.”


“Under current cuts, diversity officers (in the broadest sense) were among the first to be made redundant, the argument being that diversity work should be the task of all museum professionals and not separate.

The emerging question then is: “Who will do the job?” This kind of work requires special skills, knowledge, time, passion, and, of course, people.

Training museum professionals, such as curators, to do the work will not suffice. Diversity will be piled in the long list of outstanding tasks, most likely marked as “not urgent, not important”.

Moreover, the timing is not good. We have only just started seeing some signs of institutional transformation within museums after years of this kind of work. These signs are now under threat.”


“I fear cuts in this area are a step backwards for museums and galleries, which in time we will come to regret. Despite the hard efforts of many museums there is still a long way to go in terms of sustaining a full spectrum of visitors. My greatest concern is how many museums will continue monitoring the impact of the cuts.

Since the Department for Culture, Media and Sport announced that it is no longer obligatory for museums and galleries to track how many visitors are from ethnic minorities, are disabled, or are among those that come as result of outreach work it is not surprising that job roles with those remits are being axed.

There will be fewer internal advocates championing diversity. We must not let social inclusion work be pushed back to the margins.”